ECM dealmaking has slowed even further since US president Donald Trump announced a swathe of tariffs on the country's trade counterparts, unleashing chaos and plunging prices across global markets. But the handful of deals which have gone through may show a path forward for the market.
The follow-on market has shown signs of life. Elia completed its €1.35bn equity raise on April 4, with a 93.8% take-up and the sale of unexercised rights six times oversubscribed.
The following week, Italgas thought conditions were stable enough to announce its own €1.02bn rights issue.
And as conditions improved this week, Ageas opted to eschew a rights issue and offer new shares through an accelerated bookbuild, raising €550m in an oversubscribed deal at a 5.38% discount.
The Elia deal was nearing its end by the time tariffs were announced, while the Italgas and Ageas deals are both tied to acquisitions and were therefore likely to come to market regardless.
But the strong reception for the Ageas equity raise reveals that for companies with strong balance sheets in sectors less exposed to tariffs, and which can tell convincing stories, equity raises can succeed even in volatile markets.
Companies with similar profiles can benefit from the paucity of competing deals to find surprisingly good pricing, as investors seek to tariff-proof their equity portfolios.
With the VStoxx volatility index back down below 30 for the first time since the start of the tariff crisis, the room for deals may expand further after the Easter break.
But even if volatility roars back, whether because of unexpectedly poor economic data bringing up the recession odds, or another shock tariff announcement, opportunistic companies could still find room to raise funds.